Nearly A Month

I have tried to keep this blog free from those Twitter-esque sorts of postings. That said, some have been wondering what I have been up to over the past few weeks. The rather dull summary is loosely as follows:

1. Tying up the never-seeming-to-end series of minor Fluxbuntu tidbits.
2. Working on getting Mythbuntu's larger design plan into a state that I am happy with. This includes finalizing a palette, getting the logo into shape, and starting in on the editing of the usplash sequence in preparation for tonic's most adept construction process. The brainstorms have come a long way. I was very much struggling to keep the font that foxbuntu liked. Unfortunately, being associated with cars, it led down a path that really was not working in my opinion. The newest incarnation is a fresh balance that feels right. I hope you will feel the same when you see some of the work.
   
3. Enjoying some family time outside of the feature film industry.
4. Offering help to Casey O'Brien with the recently shot music video.
5. Working intermittently as I prepare to start full time on yet-another-feature-film we recently landed.
   

I have found Blender to be even more powerful than first imagined. The nodal based compositor / editor is amazing for those who are seeking a powerful effects / editing option in the world of Free Software. If you have tried Blender and found it not suitable for non-full frame rate options (24000/1001 progressive content, for example) -- the solution is on the horizon. Actually, it is available right now if you are capable of compiling applications for yourself. The patch to support non-whole frame rates is here. I cannot offer enough thanks to Peter Schlaile for his hard work and successful patching of the Blender project. I sincerely hope others will be exposed to this amazing tool in the near future as a direct result of his effort. I have since put the patch to work on the Mythbuntu usplash.

It would have been nice to catch up with Demian Gordon -- a dear friend from the past -- while he is up here in Vancouver plying his craft of motion capture to the feature film Watchmen. There is a good article on Demian's contribution to the Zemeckis motion picture pipeline here.

In the meantime, I hope all of you are doing well as we approach that holiday season.